Singapore parents are spending more than twice as much on tuition compared to a decade ago. Yet despite investing more in their children’s education, they also report greater stress.
This leads to the next question. Are we paying more to give our children a better (and more stressful?) future, or because everyone else is doing the same?
For many Singaporean parents, tuition has become part of the cost of raising a child. What starts as additional help for a difficult subject can expand into multiple tuition classes, enrichment activities and specialised coaching for Direct School Admission (DSA).
The study surveyed 1,500 Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident parents with children attending local primary schools and compared selected findings with an earlier survey conducted in 2016.
The findings reveal a contradiction in how Singaporean parents approach education. Most believe children spend too much time attending tuition and enrichment classes, yet many would spend even more if they could afford to.
Tuition Spending Has More Than Doubled In 10 Years
According to a September 2026 working paper by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), average monthly tuition expenditure increased from $318 in 2016 to $677 in 2026. This does not include enrichment spending, which rose from $125 in 2016 to $355 per month in 2026.
| Average monthly expenditure | 2016 | 2026 | Increase |
| Tuition | $318 | $677 | 113% |
| Enrichment | $125 | $355 | 184% |
| Combined | $443 | $1,032 | 133% |
Even after accounting for inflation, tuition expenditure increased by about 75% in real terms, while enrichment expenditure rose by approximately 134%.
For a household spending the reported average on both tuition and enrichment, combined expenditure would total $12,384 a year. Maintaining that level of spending throughout six years of primary school would cost more than $74,000 per child.
Parents Think Children Have Too Much Tuition, But Would Still Spend More
Ironically, nine in 10 parents (89.8%) agreed that children in Singapore spend too much time attending tuition and enrichment classes. Yet, 70.2% said they would spend more on these activities for their own children if they could afford to. More than half (51.9%) also reported feeling pressure because other parents were investing in supplementary education.
Consider a child who is doing reasonably well in mathematics without tuition. Their parents might initially see no reason to pay for additional lessons. However, after discovering that several classmates attend tuition or learn topics ahead of the school curriculum, they might wonder whether their child could eventually fall behind, at least relative to their peers.
As more families invest in supplementary education, others may feel compelled to follow, even when they believe children would benefit from attending fewer classes.
Tuition Is No Longer Just About Helping Children Who Are Struggling
Tuition has traditionally been viewed as additional support for students who have difficulty keeping up with schoolwork. However, parents also see it as a way to improve their children’s academic performance. In the 2026 survey, 84.9% of parents agreed that tuition gives their children an advantage in the PSLE, while 59.5% viewed it as a way to help their children reach their potential.
In my view, there is a difference between paying for tuition to address a learning gap and paying to maximise examination results. A child who struggles with a specific subject (e.g. languages) might benefit from additional lessons until they understand the subject better. However, when the objective is to achieve the highest possible score, there may be no obvious stopping point. A child scoring 70 marks might receive tuition to reach 80, while a child scoring 80 might continue attending lessons to reach 90.
When tuition is seen as a way to secure an academic advantage, even high-performing children may keep attending classes.
Enrichment Spending Is Growing Even Faster Than Tuition Spending
While tuition expenditure has more than doubled, enrichment spending increased by 184%, from $125 to $355 a month. In the IPS survey, 88.9% of parents associated enrichment with developing skills outside the classroom.
However, 31.8% also sent their children for enrichment classes to prepare for DSA applications. DSA allows students to seek admission to secondary schools based on talents and achievements beyond their PSLE results, including strengths in sports and performing arts.
While this creates opportunities for children whose strengths may not be reflected in their examination results, it can encourage parents to invest more in developing those talents. When enrichment becomes another way to improve a child’s chances of entering a desired school, parents may feel pressure to spend more on activities originally intended for enjoyment and personal development.
Rising Tuition Costs Affect Families Differently
For a family earning $15,000 a month, spending $1,000 on tuition and enrichment represents approximately 6.7% of gross household income. For a family earning $5,000, the same expenditure would account for 20%. For families with multiple children, the cost will multiply.
Higher-income households may have greater flexibility to pay for multiple tuition subjects, enrichment programmes and specialised coaching. Lower- and middle-income families may face difficult decisions about educational spending while managing housing costs, daily expenses and retirement savings.
Unfortunately, the IPS study also found that parents living in smaller HDB flats, from one-room to four-room flats, reported higher average levels of educational stress than those living in larger HDB flats and private property.
As supplementary education becomes more expensive, families with greater financial resources may be able to provide more opportunities for their children. Those with fewer resources may feel pressured to stretch their budgets to keep up, even at the expense of other financial priorities.
The IPS study highlights an irony in how Singaporean parents approach education. Most recognise that their children already spend too much time attending tuition and enrichment classes, yet many would spend even more if they could afford to. As parents try to give their children every possible advantage, they may find themselves caught in a cycle of spending more money and time on activities they already believe their children are doing too much of.
Read Also: Here’s How Much The Government Spends On Each Singaporean Child Until They Enter The Working World
Photo Credit: iStock/ridham supriyanto
